Fernando Mendoza and No. 7 Indiana picked up a massive road win over No. 3 Oregon on Saturday afternoon. (Soobum Im/Getty Images)
(Soobum Im via Getty Images)
Fernando Mendoza and No. 7 Indiana nearly blew it on Saturday afternoon in Eugene.
Instead, they’ll head back home to Bloomington with a legitimate claim as perhaps the best team in the Big Ten conference.
Advertisement
The Hoosiers, despite a late pick-6 that nearly ended things at Autzen Stadium, fended off No. 3 Oregon and grabbed a 30-20 upset win. It was the program’s first ever against a top-five ranked opponent. That pushed Indiana to a perfect 6-0 and gave it a massive resume win at the midway point of the year. Now just top-ranked Ohio State — which beat Illinois earlier on Saturday — and Indiana are the only unbeaten teams in the conference.
[Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24/7]
The Hoosiers, despite a scare two weeks ago in Iowa City, more than held their own in the first half on Saturday. They took the early lead after a field goal on their opening drive, and then matched Oregon step for step the rest of the way in the first half. Roman Hemby ran in a 3-yard touchdown late in the first quarter, and then Brendan Franke drilled a massive 58-yard field goal at the end of second quarter to put them up by three points at the break.
Their lone defensive slip came in the first quarter when Malik Benson snuck past the Hoosiers’ secondary and caught a wide-open 44-yard touchdown pass from Dante Moore.
Hemby ran in another touchdown late in the third quarter, too, which put Indiana up by a touchdown again after Oregon tied it up with a field goal earlier in the period. The Hoosiers seemed ready to finally pull away after that, too, thanks to a quick stop that got them the ball right back roughly three minutes later.
Advertisement
But that’s when Mendoza made his first mistake. He threw a bad interception to Brandon Finney Jr., who stepped up and easily picked off the ball and ran it back 35-yards for a touchdown.
But Mendoza rallied like nothing had happened. Indiana rattled off a long 12-play, 75-yard drive before Mendoza found Elijah Sarratt for an 8-yard touchdown to put the Hoosiers back in the lead once again.
Then on Oregon’s first play out of the break, Dante Moore’s pass was deflected at the line and intercepted by Hoosiers defensive back Louis Moore to give Indiana the ball right back in great field position. That set up the clinching field goal that gave the Hoosiers the 10-point win. Indiana intercepted Moore a second time after that field goal for good measure, too.
Moore went 21-of-34 for 186 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in the loss for Oregon. Jordon Davison had 59 yards on eight carries. The Ducks now sit at 5-1 heading into next week’s matchup at Rutgers.
Advertisement
Mendoza went 21-of-31 for 215 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the win for Indiana. Hemby had 70 yards and two scores on 19 carries, and Sarratt had 121 yards and a score on eight catches.
Unfortunately, Indiana and Ohio State won’t meet in the regular season this fall. Indiana has a pretty favorable schedule the rest of the way, too. It’ll take on Michigan State next week, and the biggest game left on its schedule is likely at Penn State on Nov. 8 — though that’s not as big after the Nittany Lions dropped their third straight game on Saturday. The Hoosiers have that wild 63-10 blowout win over then-No. 9 Illinois under their belt, too.
Advertisement
Assuming things keep trending the way they are, the Hoosiers have a very real path to not only reaching the College Football Playoff for a second straight season, but winning what would be their first conference title since 1967. But if things slip, Oregon — which also has a very favorable schedule the rest of the way — may be right there waiting.
